Mindfulness

Hi all,

Thanks so much to everyone who read my last blogpost on what it's really like to live with anxiety. I hope it's given you some insight and understanding into the condition. If you haven't yet read it, you can do so HERE.

I mentioned in the post that I try to deal with stress in a natural way.

One of the things I've been practicing over the last year has been mindfulness, which has been proven to relieve the symptoms of anxiety. In the most simple of terms, mindfulness means being aware of what you are doing while you are doing it. I spoke in a previous blog post about "living in the now" so to not have any regrets (see HERE); mindfulness is exactly that. It is not a behavior to help you completely forget whatever strains or stresses you may have in your life at present; it simply means pushing them aside and allowing yourself to be present in this moment. As more people are more aware of the unpleasant side effects of medication, mindfulness has really taken off.

I expected mindfulness to be really complex; and it can be if you over think it too much. But it's best to keep things as simple as possible when it comes to practicing it. I should mention here that it requires practice; not loads but if the thought of sitting still makes you anxious, it does require practice. There is no 'perfect' way to do mindfulness either. You don't need to do a course, you don't need to fork out lots of money to be trained in how to do it (contrary to what you may think). I'm not an expert in this field by any means, so what works for me might not work for you, but this is just what I do and what helps me.

I find it easier to engage in mindfulness when I am looking at a pretty view. When I was in Ireland, I was never too far away from a beach when I was in college or at home, but since I've moved to England I'm nowhere near a beach unfortunately but the local Bitts Park does the job just as well. Obviously, the weather isn't great most of the time but a week or so ago the weather was lovely and sunny so I decided to head there to practice my mindfulness.

I sat on a bench overlooking the river and switched off my phone. I focused on the reflections the trees made on the river, how serene the view was. Even though I have quite an irrational fear of water, I like to look at it. I find it very peaceful. I focused on the clouds drifting by, the different shapes created in the sky, off setted by the very rarely seen sun.

I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth, feeling the cool air drift in and out of my body. Inhale the good thoughts, exhale the not so good thoughts.

I immediately felt calm after my mindfulness session. It truly is amazing what some simple breathing techniques can do.

I decided to take advantage of the weather and go for a walk down by the river. I focused on my breathing, in and out slowly. I walked slowly and carefully, being aware of each step I took and the sound my footsteps made on the earth. I noticed the things around me. I listened to the birds singing in the sky and in the trees. I looked at the buds starting to appear on the trees and the grass nestled in near the river. I heard the children laughing near the river.









Being a blogger and writer, everything I see can be inspiration for my blog or diary, which I guess isn't a bad thing, but it does cause me to become quite distracted. I reined it in and got back to the present moment. I didn't look at my watch or my phone for a while. Instead, I continued to be in the now.



I observed at nature as I walked around. The daffodils in bloom near the river, their bright petals fluttering in the wind.























Some people may say mindfulness is too simplistic, but it should be. It does take time to become accustomed to it, when I first tried it I wasn't sure whether it was for me or not, as I had all these slightly skewed misconceptions about it.

I find the benefits of mindfulness to be invaluable. From less than an hour of practicing in the park, I felt in a better mood, more calm and definitely less stressed. For that reason I'd definitely recommend you all to give it a go.

Thanks for reading guys xxx

All photographs taken in this blogpost are of Bitts Park, Carlisle, Cumbria, UK. They were all taken by myself using my iPhone 5S phone (no filter used).

Fashion & Beauty - It's my birthdaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!

I'm only starting to get back into blogging after what can only be described as an extremely hectic two weeks! I'm starting university in England tomorrow (eeep!), having moved over from Ireland on Wednesday to get settled into my new surroundings. I'll have a blogpost up in the future talking a little bit about the city that I'm currently living in for uni (Carlisle in the north west of England). Although I'm about to become a full time student again, I have decided to keep blogging as I really like to write so much and as creepy as it may sound, I have made tons of online friendships from all over the world because of it. However, I will say that instead of blogging once/twice/maybe three times a week, I'll blog when I can and when I have time, as the priority will obviously be university and everything that goes with it, but  I wouldn't want to publish anything on my blog that wasn't of good standard and great material.

 My blog will still be beauty, fashion and lifestyle on a budget, but it will be obviously much more student orientated. Even though I bought some makeup from British brands the other day, I'll try to keep things as relevant as possible for all my lovely Irish readers!

Anyways, this blogpost is all about my birthday celebrations. My 23rd birthday wasn't until yesterday (19th September), but as I won't be returning to see my friends and family in Ireland again until Christmas break, I wanted to spend as much time as possible with them and wanted to celebrate my birthday with them, so with that in mind, I decided to have last weekend (the 12th September), as a birthday celebration and also as a kind of going away celebration as well. Celebrating my birthday a week early? Yes please!

The dress I'm wearing is from AX Paris. They have a website, and although the stuff on it is fabulous, they are more than bit expensive on there, even items on sale. This dress costs €52.50 online and if you wish you can still buy it at http://www.axparis.com/products/Lace-Detailed-Top-Midi-Dress.html. A boutique in my hometown in Ireland however was selling it on sale for just €12, reduced from the price they were selling it at which was €42. Can't go wrong with that can you?!

The metallic heels I'm wearing are from Penneys (Primark), I have mentioned them in previous posts, I got them on a reduced sale of €12 reduced from €16. They are so nice and easy to walk in that they are actually the only pair of high heels I own that made the cut into the suitcase to England!

Regarding makeup, I'm not sure can you see it clearly enough in the photo of me above, I didn't actually manage to take a selfie that night before I went out (what is becoming of me?!), but most of the products I've used before on nights out. The foundation I used was my holy grail night time foundation, MaxFactor Skin Luminiser in the shade '40 Light Ivory' (€15.99), concealer I used under my eyes and on blemishes was Rimmel Wake Me Up (€6.99, review of that product is HERE), powder I used was Primark Loose Powder (€2, review of this product is to come), blush I used was Catrice Defining Blush in Sunrose Avenue (€4.49, review of that product is HERE). In terms of eye makeup, I created a subtle smoky eye using the W7 In the Nude eyeshadow palette (I'll have a blogpost on this palette up shortly) before adding some drama with my all time favourite false eyelashes, Primark Sultry (€1.50), before lining with Essence Liquid Ink liquid eyeliner. I lined my lips with Primark lipliner in a berry shade before applying Primark Matte Long Last Lipstick in the shade 'Ladies Day' (€2). This lipstick is super matte and drying so do please use some lipbalm like the Nivea Essentials lipbalm (€2.09, review of that product is HERE), before applying, though this lipstick will stay on all night.

The tan I wore wearing is the amazing Cocoa Brown Day & Night tan (review of that product is HERE).

If you're a regular reader of my blog you'll know that over the past month I have not been biting my nails and using Sally Hansen Nail Growth miracle treatment to speed up the growth process (I wrote about my thoughts after using the product for five days HERE) and actually hope to have a second blogpost after using it for month up shortly. They have finally become long enough to apply nail polish to. I chose New York Color Gel Gloss in the shade '800 Greenwich Shopper', which is a matte black colour which wouldn't distract from the dress or the makeup. I find it an OK product, you need to apply two coats to the nail because anything else just looks transparent. It cost €2.20.

For the actual day of my birthday, I spent much of the day exploring around my new city surroundings. Even though I've spent so much on clothes and other bits the last few days since moving over, I had to buy a few presents for myself - sure if you can't treat yourself on your birthday when can you?! I picked out a brown skirt, a brick red crop top and black heeled boots in New Look. I thought the colours together looked so autumnal and really bang on trend.  I reckon I'll do a blogpost soon enough on the clothes that I bought.

Later in the evening I strolled into the city centre to have a few cheeky birthday drinks. I randomly passed the Irish pub on the way home and had to pop in for one - sure why not. All and all I had a really great birthday - here's to being 23, yeaaah!

Thanks so much also to those who wished me a happy birthday on my Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat or through good auld calls and texts - it was very much appreciated!

As always make sure to follow me on my social media sites!

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/shellsaysso

Twitter:

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Snapchat: shellfoody92

Lifestyle - Liverpool Travel Diary

I went to Liverpool in February and so have decided to do a travel diary if you will about my experiences I had for the few days I was there.

I've decided to break this travel log up into several points for easier reading: tourist outings, places to eat, and where I stayed and how I got there.  I apologise if it seems a bit long, I just wanted to give you an in-depth description. I haven't written a travel log for the blog before so go easy on me!

Tourist Outings

• To get an idea of the city, myself and my sister (who I travelled with), decided to go on an open-top double-decker bus. They have these in many cities around the world, I've been on ones in Dublin and Belfast too, and they are an easy, quick and fun way to get a general gist of the city you're in without walking round for miles with no clue where you're going. The bus journey was about 40 minutes long and took us all around the city, where we were given a running commentary of important places of interest. The best thing about this trip was that it's so cheap (only something like £8) and you can get off the bus at any point and get on it again at a later stage if you so wish at no extra cost.

• So obviously you just can't go to Liverpool without checking out some of the Beatles attractions. The fab four were born and raised in the city, and it's impossible to get away from their everlasting presence there. I'm a massive fan of the band myself so a trip to the Beatles museum - called the Beatles Story - was definitely in order! I'm haven't been a student since May last year but I managed to snag student entry price ticket into the museum (don't know how I managed that but yay!). Inside the museum there is lots of memorabilira, in detail facts about the band, from their childhood, early musical experiences (I didn't realise that John Lennon had his own band before the Beatles, called the Quarrymen!), various albums, plenty of photos and clothes that they wore, some of the band's musical instruments, and re-creations of some of the places in the city they played at. For more information please check out their website http://www.beatlesstory.com/. Below are just a few photos I took from inside the museum. (The picture of me is in a part of the museum that was a recreation of a yellow submarine, as based on the band's hit song!).

• Speaking of the Beatles, we were on the bus that I've mentioned above when one of the stops to get off at was a pub called 'the Phil' or the Philharmonic Dining Rooms (to give it it's full title). I was thinking what's the relevance of this but it's actually where  a certain dude called John Lennon used to frequent when he was a student at the Liverpool College of Art and still popped in when he joined the Beatles and became famous. He was quoted as saying that one of the downsides of his fame with the Beatles was not being able to go to the Phil as often as he would have liked. As you can see from the photo of the interior, it looks pretty snazzy, and has a very rustic feel to it, with stained glass windows - definitely feels where pop royalty would hang out! We felt so cool having a drink in John Lennon's pub you would not believe - we were like 'his arse could have been sitting on this chair' LOL! We went to it on the first day of arriving in Liverpool after we got off the bus tour and ended up going there for a drink pretty much every evening we stayed there. We even tried out some local ale, though it tasted like piss, quite frankly! It's situated on Hope Street. They also serve food as well. Further information on the pub is available at http://www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk/thephilharmonicdiningroomsliverpool/.

• We took a trip down to the Albert Docks which is obviously the dockland area of the city. Because of it's close proximity to the sea, Liverpool has for centuries been an important sea port and maritime port (many of it's people were  involved in the navy and the ship-building industry, so much so that the city even has it's own maritime museum - which I'll talk about later). The day we went down the docks was very sunny and beautiful and it seemed so peaceful around that area. It is home to a number of important tourist destinations, including several museums, which I'm later going to discuss.

• Museum of Liverpool: This museum is one of several museums located in the Albert Docks. This is a general museum, catering for all topics, it's not specifically war or anything like that. I didn't realise this at the time, but the exhibitions seem to change every so often, so the ones on at the time when we were there in February are obviously not on now. When we went however we checked out the exhibition detailing Liverpool's role in World War I, which was full of interesting information. There's also a children's interactive section as well, so it's great for all the family. I didn't find it that amazing though, but it's free entry, so if you're there, you may as well check it out!

• Merseyside Maritime Museum: As the name suggests, this museum is dedicated to everything maritime (sea) related. There's lots of information about the navy, more on Liverpool's role in the wars, and a very interactive view of life as a seaman throughout the ages. Oddly enough, it's designed to feel like a ship on the inside, which I found a little bit strange but quirky at the same time. They had an exhibition on at the time on the doomed ship Titanic, as much of the ship was actually built in Liverpool and many of Liverpool's people went on to board the ill-fated liner. I found that in particular very interesting as I have quite a fascination with the Titanic. There's lots of interesting facts about the ship, the process involved in making the ship plus actual diaries from survivors. It's free entry as well, which means you definitely must check it out. Highly recommend this place. And yes, that is a giant anchor outside the front door! Standard. More information can be found here: http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/. 

• International Slavery Museum: So obviously as the name suggests, this is a museum dedicated to the lives of slaves but it also contains alot of material on those who campaigned for slavery and black people's rights, such as Martin Luther King. It also has a lot of information about different African cultures, which I found particulary fascinating. Very interesting museum. It's free entry again, and More information can be found here: http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/ism/.

• Bombed out Church: We actually passed this one and thought it was a fancy cathedral so we popped in to have a look. As you can see from the picture, St Luke's Church looks very pristine from the outside. However, inside it's a completely different story and we soon discovered it was bombed out in the Blitz during World War II in May 1941, so it's basically just a shell, there's nothing inside. The church was bought by the City of Liverpool after the blitz and they've attempted to turn it into a place of peace and tranquility, but all that I gathered from it was that it was a silly tackfest operation, with many Chinese lanterns for sale. Definitely didn't think it was that impressive. 

Places to eat/shopping:

• St John's is a huge shopping center in the center of Liverpool city and has plenty of food venues, clothes shops and makeup outlets. We went there a lot for lunch too because it had a really good restaurant that had traditional fish and chips with mushy peas (was so good!) for only £4.

• Nandos: So I'm from the west of Ireland which means that I never get the opportunity to go to Nandos unless I'm in Dublin, but with a massive Nandos right beside St John's shopping center, I took full advantage and went for it! Well if it's good enough for Beyonce... I love the chicken in Nandos, it's amazing, but I'm not so keen on the chips, they remind me of Mc Donalds fries as they're just so thin, and really don't fill ya! But if you have eaten in Nandos before you know that one of the best things about it is that you can have unlimited drinks while you're there and can keep refilling your drink as many times as you want. 

• Italian restaurant: So on the first evening we arrived in Liverpool we went to a really fancy Italian restaurant called Bella Italia for dinner. It was in close proximity to the train station and we were starving so we said sure why not. I'm a huge fan of Italian food and love my lasagna and spaghetti bolognese, so I had pretty high expectations for this place. And it did not disappoint! The spaghetti was hands down the best spaghetti I've ever had in my life, no word of a lie. Honestly the best food ever. Though it was £15 which is a bit on the pricey side it was so worth it. For more information please see their website http://www.bellaitalia.co.uk/italian-restaurant/liverpool/.

• Asda/Iceland: If all else fails and you subsequently end up with severe low funds like we did (oops!), you can always check out the local Iceland store located in the St John's shopping center. A big bag of chips for 59p? Yes please!

Where I stayed:

• I was on a budget so I was looking for cheap but nice enough places to stay in the city. We ended up booking the Everton Hostel, on Everton Road. It was so affordable to stay there. It was £10 per night to stay there Friday, Saturday and Sunday and then on the Monday it was only £5 per night. Great bargain! It had free WiFi and free breakfast too. It worked out handy for us as it was located right opposite a bus stop that would take you directly to the city center. The staff couldn't be more helpful too. Their walls were painted with various Beatles murals, including a cool one of John Lennon perched on a globe (below),which I thought was so quirky! For more information please check out their website: https://evertonhostel.com/.

How I got there:

• My local airport, Ireland West Airport Knock, flies directly into John Lennon International Airport. The cost of the flight varies depending on what day you're flying out on and is obviously dearer at weekends. The time we flew in February the flight from Knock to Liverpool was E20 and the return flight was E35, but it can be cheaper depending on the time. We flew with Ryanair because they were the cheapest airline to fly to, and the flight takes about an hour.

• On a side note, the airport is obviously named after John Lennon, and boasts a statue of him. I really thought the tagline for the airport was super cute too - lyrics from Lennon's song Imagine - 'above us only sky'.